Tomorrow, April 30th, is the 222nd anniversary of George Washington’s inauguration as America’s first president. The current occupant of the White House could learn much from Washington’s example as executive-in-chief, and his inaugural address (with acknowledgment to William J. Bennett’s American Patriot’s Almanac):

It would be peculiarly improper to omit in this first official act my fervent supplication to that Almighty Being who rules over the universe, who presides in the councils of nations, and whose providential aids can supply every human defect, that His benediction may consecrate to the liberties and happiness of the people of the United States a Government instituted by themselves for these essential purposes…
No people can be bound to acknowledge and adore the Invisible Hand which conducts the affairs of men more than those of the United States. Every step by which they have advanced to the character of an independent nation seems to have been distinguished by some token of providential agency. And in the important revolution just accomplished in the system of their united government, the tranquil deliberations and voluntary consent of so many distinct communities from which the event has resulted cannot be compared with the means by which most governments have been established without some return of pious gratitude, along with an humble anticipation of the future blessings which the past seems to presage.

Below are some of the 110 “rules” George recorded for himself at age sixteen. I suspect these would have most 16-year-olds LOL-ing today. Civility? Decent behavior? Respect? How 18th century!